Iberia Unions Eye December Strikes

November 27, 2012

Workers at Iberia are considering strike action during the December holiday season as a protest against massive job cuts, a union representative said on Tuesday.

"All of the unions are in intense talks to fix dates for action against the plan to dismantle Iberia," a spokesman for Spain's second-biggest union UGT said, predicting possible strikes between December 14 and December 21.

Iberia is part of the International Airlines Group, which earlier this month said it would cut about a quarter of the Spanish airline's workforce and reduce capacity as part of a restructuring plan to make it more competitive.

"We're not willing to accept sacrifices that only lead to breaking Iberia apart. We want to negotiate a viability plan that contemplates growth at Iberia and not just shutting down routes," the UGT spokesman said.

Unions have been in conflict with IAG over pay and conditions for the past year.